Nowadays, a video camera apparatus is known, in which the imaging light is received by a so-called CCD image sensor for forming imaging signals which imaging signals are recorded on a video tape.
With such video camera apparatus, the focusing, zooming or the iris is manually set by a user prior to starting the imaging. When the imaging is started, the imaging light is introduced via the imaging lens so as to be received by the CCD image sensor. Thus the electrical charges corresponding to the received imaging light are accumulated in the CCD image sensor.
The system controller reads out the charges accumulated in the CCD image sensor under so-called electronic shutter control at a time interval specified by a manual operation or in response to the received light volume. The electrical charges read out from the CCD image sensor are outputted as imaging signals so as to be fed to a preamplifier.
The preamplifier amplifies the imaging signals at a pre-set gain and transmits the amplified signals to a video amplification circuit (video amplifier).
The video amplifier has its gain, flare correction degree and shading correction degree controlled by control signals from the system controller. Thus the video amplifier performs flare correction and shading correction on the imaging signals and amplifies the corrected signals with a gain variably controlled by the system controller in order to output the amplified signals. The amplified imaging signals from the video amplifier are supplied to an imaging signal processing circuit.
The imaging signal processing circuit clamps the pedestal level (black level) of the imaging signals and processes the imaging signals with gamma correction and contour enhancement, while affording knee characteristics to the processed imaging signals, under control by the system controller, and transmits the resulting imaging signals to an encoder. The encoder digitizes the imaging signals to produce imaging data and encodes the imaging data in a pre-set manner suited to recording in order to output the resulting encoded data. The time code indicating the imaging time and date is superimposed on the imaging data and the resulting data is supplied to a rotary head.
The rotary head digitally azimuth-records the imaging data and the time code on a video tape.
This allows the imaging data and the time code to be reproduced during reproduction so that the imaging data and time by the time code may be displayed on a screen along with the picture corresponding to the imaging data.
In a broadcasting station, it becomes frequently desirable to select a desired picture to be used in a program from among plural images recorded on plural video tapes and to edit the images in their entirety on a single video tape.
However, since the desired selected images were directly joined to one another with the conventional editing, such that the pictures of the same picture pattern produce difference in the display mode at a junction between the images to give the alien feeling to the viewer.
That is, since the plural video tapes are made up of images taken at different places and at different timing, such that, when the pictures, such as the pictures of the sky, imaged under geographically or temporally different conditions and joined to each other by editing, produce an inconvenience such as sudden changes in brightness in the reproduced combined image, with the junction as a boundary. Alternatively, if the pictures ahead and at back of the junction are images indoors and outdoors, the reproduced picture shows sudden change in brightness on both sides of the junction due to changes in indoor and outdoor color temperature.
On the other hand, if there is any reproduced image having a picture pattern suited to the viewer's taste, it may occur that the viewer is desirous to know the setting state of the video camera device in which the image was taken, such as the iris opening degree, video amplifier gain, the level of shading correction or the level of gamma correction of the imaging signal processing circuit.
However, the setting state of past imaging operations cannot be realized with the conventional video camera device, such that imaging cannot be performed in the manner of re-generating past picture patterns.
While it may be contemplated that the setting state of the pst imaging operation can be recognized if the user records the imaging setting state on a memo, an extremely laborious operation is involved because the setting state needs to be confirmed for each imaging operation. In addition, it is well-nigh impossible to recognize the setting state during the imaging operation.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging parameter recording apparatus, an imaging method and an editing system in which imaging parameters indicating the setting state of various components during the imaging can be recorded along with the imaging signals and in which reproduced image can be edited to a desirable picture pattern by optionally changing the imaging parameter values.